Wednesday, November 24, 2004

News of the Day

A number of you have shown interest in contributing to this blog. Have a news or post to share? Post it under this topic.
**Add: Please hyperlink the news item and include only a brief excerpt [with a comment on it, if you can] in the text.

20 comments:

SHA said...

Find out where ur anti-spyware stands.PCWORLD.com did a test on some anti-spyware.Check out the article at

http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,118362,00.asp



SHA

Vaqas said...

I MUST HAVE POSTED IT EARLEIR..ITS AN OLD BUT STILL HOT NEWS

Google Scholar Beta
-------------------
Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.

Just as with Google Web Search, Google Scholar orders your search results by how relevant they are to your query, so the most useful references should appear at the top of the page. This relevance ranking takes into account the full text of each article as well as the article's author, the publication in which the article appeared and how often it has been cited in scholarly literature. Google Scholar also automatically analyzes and extracts citations and presents them as separate results, even if the documents they refer to are not online. This means your search results may include citations of older works and seminal articles that appear only in books or other offline publications.

Please let us know if you have suggestions, questions or comments about Google Scholar. We recognize the debt we owe to all those in academia whose work has made Google itself a reality and we hope to make Google Scholar as useful to this community as possible. We believe everyone should have a chance to stand on the shoulders of giants.

http://scholar.google.com/

Vaqas said...

Another Survey Says Mozilla Up, IE Down
---------------------------------------
Another Web browser usage survey is showing a familiar trend: Mozilla's share is rising at the expense of Internet Explorer.

Global usage share numbers released Monday by OneStat.com showed Mozilla Foundation browsers increasing to a 7.4 percent share from 2.1 percent in May. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer dropped 5 percentage points to 88.9 percent during the same six-month period.

Full Story: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1731477,00.asp

Vaqas said...

OLD BUT :P

Kazaa Offers Unlimited Free Internet Phone Calls
------------------------------------------------
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sharman Networks Ltd., distributor of the Kazaa file-sharing software, on Monday launched its latest version which enables users to make free online calls anywhere in the world.

Kazaa v3.0 includes the integration of Internet telephony software from Skype Technologies SA and also offers advanced search capabilities and a free weblog trial.

Skype, headquartered in Luxembourg, is the newest venture of Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, co-founders of Kazaa and Altnet, a secure peer-to-peer network.

-Reuters

Vaqas said...

Tech Spending Looks Up in Asia, E.Europe
----------------------------------------
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Spending in Eastern Europe and Asia is expected to lead a recovery in the global technology market over the next three years, according to an industry report released Tuesday.

After years of sluggish growth, technology spending is expected to climb steadily through 2007 as China, Poland and other countries in the developing world invest heavily in hardware, software, networking equipment and services, according to a study commissioned by World Information Technology and Services Alliance, an industry trade group.

Total spending should hit $3.2 trillion in 2007, up from $2.1 trillion in 2001, the report said.

Spending in Asia and the Pacific Rim is expected to grow quickest at 9.3 percent annually, while spending will increase in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at a rate of 8.9 percent per year.

Technology markets in North and South America will grow at a 6.7 percent annual clip, according to the report.

In the face of higher growth elsewhere, the Western Hemisphere is expected to account for 44 percent of the market, down from 46 percent in 2003, the report said.

As developing countries jump in the tech game their influence is expected to grow accordingly, the report said.

"Although the dominance of the developed world (in technology) is not likely to change soon, the developing world can no longer be ignored or considered irrelevant," the report said.

The report was produced using data provided by consulting firm Global Insight Inc.

The U.S.-based World Information Technology and Services Alliance is a group of 65 technology trade groups from around the world.

-Reuters

Zunaira said...

VA: The first two news items have already been posted on this blog.

For you and other contributors:
We do not post entire news items. Hyperlink to the story, and merely add a brief excerpt in the main text.

Vaqas said...

it means you are missing at leat 50%...and you claim to be "INTERNET" mag..however i dont.

Vaqas said...

@Sameer...what if YOU make your better?

Rafay Bin Ali said...

Seems like Vagas Ashraf is only trying to seek some attention using one of the oldest tricks in the book. Vagas you really wouldnt have been wasting your time writing stuff here if you really think what you said about the magazine.

Anyway, this post is with regards to the article "Clueless Candidates" (Spider Nove 2004) by Ms. Imtiaz. The writer has done a superb job of explaining a phenomenon that is prevalent in all areas of our higher education system. I can personally relate to this with my own experiences at Hamdard University, where we only have a couple of students who are trying and getting the essence of a business education, while the rest seem really out of place. The problem was the inadequate career planning they received while at the lower tiers of the education system - a couple of them are really really good at art work and digital artstuff but have ended up here. Anyway, I think a Pakistan Careerbuilder is a superb idea and I would want to work on it if someone gets this project rolling.

SHA said...

Security flaw i XP SP2

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,118239,00.asp

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/000218.html


SHA

SHA said...

Anyone has noticed the poll on Spider's website (spider.tm).Opens in a popup so u have to allow popups to view it.It goes like this for those of you who can't get it to show.


What is Pakistan's biggest internet and IT-related achievement to date?

Putting an end to multi-metering and reducing dial-up charges

Introduction of broadband internet

Connecting major cities and towns to the net

Launching a National IT Policy

Attempting to block pornographic websites

Setting up a Ministry of IT

Offering free internet at the airport

None of the above




SHA

edgewalker said...

Hi
have been following Spider blog for some time now and would like to contribute on interactive avertising which is steadily picking up for last 4 quarters.. am maintaining an archive blog where i post relevant articles (without comments)imediapk.blogspot.com

have also started a blog about Advertising, Marketing, Media in Pakistan http://adveractive.blogspot.com and seeking contributors..

edgewalker said...

Hi
have been following Spider blog for some time now and would like to contribute on interactive avertising which is steadily picking up for last 4 quarters.. am maintaining an archive blog where i post relevant articles (without comments)imediapk.blogspot.com

have also started a blog about Advertising, Marketing, Media in Pakistan http://adveractive.blogspot.com and am looking for contributors..

Anonymous said...

Yahoo jumps into the desktop search business following google's desktop search.See the full story at

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/0a4816f4-4a50-11d9-b065-00000e2511c8.html



SHA

Anonymous said...

Yahoo is planning to start a video search engine,the beta version is already up.According to Yahoo the system builds on a standard for syndicating content to other Web sites by allowing publishers to add text, or metatags, to their media files. That way, the RSS feeds can be sent to Yahoo for indexing in the search engine. Eventually, the system could be used to allow people to aggregate video feeds on a personalized Web page, for example.

You can check it out at

http://video.search.yahoo.com/


SHA

Anonymous said...

On December 16, 2004, Microsoft announced its acquisition of GIANT Company Software, Inc., a provider of top-rated anti-spyware and Internet security products. Microsoft will use the acquisition to provide its customers with new tools to help protect them from the threat of spyware and other deceptive software. In addition, key personnel from Giant will be joining Microsoft’s security efforts.

Microsoft plans to make available a beta version of a spyware protection, detection, and removal tool, based on the Giant AntiSpyware product, within one month for Microsoft customers. The upcoming beta will scan a customer’s PC to locate spyware and other deceptive software threats and enable customers to remove them. The tool will be configurable to block known spyware and other unwanted software from being installed on the computer. It will be available for Windows 2000 and later.

Details of the Microsoft solution beyond the planned beta, including product plans, pricing, and a timeline for delivery, are not yet available. The anti-spyware technology will complement the enhanced security features available in Windows XP Service Pack 2 to provide a higher level of protection for browsing and other Internet computing.

More information about Microsoft and its efforts to address computer security, including spyware customer guidance and information on anti-spyware solutions is available at http://www.microsoft.com/spyware.



SHA

Anonymous said...

Microsoft Corp. has quietly released a "critical" Windows XP Service Pack 2 update to fix a serious flaw in the Windows Firewall utility.This update was not included in the 5 updates released before.

Details can be found at

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/886185



SHA

Anonymous said...

Microsoft Windows ipconfig.exe Overflow

A local overflow exists in windows. Windows fails to sanitize the input of ipconfig.exe, resulting in a local buffer overflow. With a specially crafted request, an attacker can cause a denial of service, resulting in a loss of availability of server.

Solution: Currently, there are no known upgrades, patches, or workarounds available to correct this issue.

Manual Testing Notes: ipconfig.exe /`perl -e 'print "PAAAA\x44\x33\x22\x11","%08x"x13,"%n";'`


SHA

Anonymous said...

A 22-year-old gamer has spent $26,500 (£13,700) on an island that exists only in a computer role-playing game (RPG).

The Australian gamer, known only by his gaming moniker Deathifier, bought the island in an online auction.

The land exists within the game Project Entropia, an RPG which allows thousands of players to interact with each other.

Entropia allows gamers to buy and sell virtual items using real cash, while fans of other titles often use auction site eBay to sell their virtual wares.

Earlier this year economists calculated that these massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have a gross economic impact equivalent to the GDP of the African nation of Namibia.


The Entopia economy lets gamers exchange real currency into PED (Project Entropia Dollars) and back again into real money.

Ten PEDs are the equivalent to one US dollar and typical items sold include iron ingots ($5) and shogun armour ($1.70)

Gamers can theoretically earn money by accumulating PEDs through the acquisition of goods, buildings, and land in the Entropia universe.

MMORPGs have become enormously popular in the last 10 years with hundreds of thousands of gamers living out alternate lives in fantasy worlds.

Almost 200,000 people are registered players on Project Entropia.



SHA

Anonymous said...

Opera releases version 8 with voice support

Opera Software has released the first public beta of version 8 of its popular Opera browser, which adds voice input/output and a host of other niceties. Key new features include improved RSS handling, fit to window or paper width, a start-bar for easy access to the most commonly used functions, and automatic update checks. The current beta release supports Windows only, but a general release is scheduled for "early 2005," Opera says.

Other new features of the new version include an easier install process, a simplified user interface, and a trash can that remembers closed windows and blocked pop-ups. Also, a clickable RSS icon now appears in the address bar when sites with RSS feeds are accessed, and RSS newsfeeds can be added to Opera's email client.

Opera's new voice technology is said to support websites that offer interactive, voice-enabled shopping and booking systems, the company says. Additionally, users can browse the web using spoken commands such as "Opera next link," "Opera back," and "Opera speak." In response to the latter, Opera reads the content of a web page or email aloud.

Opera and IBM have partnered on XHTML+Voice (X+V) technology for several years, co-announcing a Multimodal Browser and Toolkit early in 2003. At that time, Opera began offering an enhancement to Opera 7.0 browser for Windows that was made available through the Multimodal Browser project. The modified version of Opera 7.0 was capable of rendering Web pages written in the XHTML+Voice markup language, Opera said, at the time.

Opera 8's new Fit-to-Window-Width function adapts web page content to fit the width of the window in which the browser is currently displayed. As a result, if multiple windows are open, the browser sizes the web page to the particular window, thereby eliminating the need for horizontal scrolling. Combining this feature with Opera's web page zoom feature enables users to "dramatically magnify" web pages, yet view them without the need for horizontal scrolling, a capability that is sure to be popular among visually impaired users.

"We were preparing for the 7.60 release, but as work progressed and we kept adding improvements and functionality, it became very evident that we now have a browser that is so powerful, secure, and easy to use that it exceeds the next logical version number and warrants a major release," said Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner, in a statement. "The new Opera version has dramatic improvements under the hood, in addition to some very helpful new features to welcome more and more users to take advantage of browsing the Internet in a fast, safe, and customizable way."

The latest Opera beta (version 8.00b1, for Windows users only) is available as a free download. The final version, which will support Linux, Mac, and Windows, is scheduled for release in early 2005, according to Opera. Users who have licensed versions of Opera 7 will receive free upgrades to the new version, it says.

SHA